The Idyllicist

Studying wisdom of the past to build a better future

  • Worship and Wisdom

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    “Better than any ritual is the worship achieved through wisdom; wisdom is the final goal of every action, Arjuna.” – Bhagavad Gita 4.33

    Wisdom is the pinnacle of existence, in my opinion. This is not intelligence, nor is it hard study or simple recall, but a general and overarching wherewithal of existence and reality. 

    The word itself, in English, remains relatively unchanged over the past millennium. Stretching further back in time, “wisdom” derives from an ancestral root meaning “to see.” In my own system of belief, this vastness of meaning is captured in the word “wit,” which also is a member of this etymologic family. 

    Wisdom is a true, pure, raw understanding of what it means to exist, not just to be alive, but to live. Consciousness is a truly awe-inspiring force, and one I do not believe will ever be fully explained by science. Even more wonderful than consciousness is the interaction between their multitude. 

    We will certainly revisit this concept in the future, but I wish to expand on one specific idea in this segment. To be wise, to see and understand, necessitates an innate propensity for curiosity and, more importantly, questioning. 

    Thus we arrive at one of several major departures from my prior beliefs: that worship is not, in fact, the purpose of our existence. If anything, worship may be called antithetical to purpose. 

    The word itself is descendant of the suggestion that worth may only be attained through such an action – that is, discarding the self as worthless and attributing all good things to another being. While this makes perfect sense in the Christian framework, the time is nigh to challenge it. 

    There is an argument that religion came about simply as a means of control. I disagree with this notion, but it is impossible to disagree with the fact that many throughout history have wielded religion in such a manner. And in this has mass devastation been effected. 

    In prior years, I would have dismissed this notion with the idea that God is worthy of worship and blind, undying devotion. But I cannot in good conscience preach that today with the knowledge I have of religion. It is not that there is simply a lack of evidence for the Christian framework – that alone can be covered by faith. But there is evidence against the Christian framework that cannot be ignored. 

    I do believe in God, but not as portrayed in the Bible, or in any other text. God by definition must be so utterly transcendent that his entirety cannot be grasped. Even my own writings and ideas can only amount to an approximation of my concept of the divine. 

    Such an awe-inspiring thing is worthy of veneration, yes, but not worship. Wisdom, then, may be the ability to admit one’s limits, but stand firm in what is known to be true. 

    If that is not the ultimate act of respect and veneration of the ultimate source of consciousness, then nothing is. 

  • Perseverance is an Obligation

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    “Does the light of the lamp shine without losing its splendor until it is extinguished; and shall the truth which is in thee and justice and temperance be extinguished [before thy death]?” – Meditations 12.15

    At the beginning of my current journal, I wrote, “Perseverance is an obligation.” I tried to find words that would reflect what I believed the overall mood of the journal to be, and I quickly found that it was applicable to much more than just that journal. 

    Perseverance, to me, is one of the most respectable attributes a person may have. Perseverance in the face of evil or misfortune, especially, commands great regard. 

    The first person who comes to mind when I think of perseverance is my partner – and soon-to-be wife. She was born with a rotten hand in a rotten land, was forced to live on next to nothing, and was the undeserving object of her mother’s ire. 

    And she is still here – and thriving. 

    It truly makes me proud to see who she has become and is still becoming. We have known each other for four years and been together for three and a half, and the respect and admiration I feel for her grows every day. It continually amazes me that, despite our very different upbringings, we converged on the same values and goals. And this is because she persevered and made the most of a bad start. 

    Similarly, we all must strive to persevere in the face of the evil and injustice spewing forth from the world’s current authorities. I am fortunate enough to live in an area unaffected by these spurious wars, and it is not lost on me that, especially in these days, that is a mark of privilege. 

    Thus, I feel that resistance and perseverance is even more necessary on the part of all those who share that privilege. It is human nature to become fatigued – I certainly have had my moments of exhaustion – but it is also human nature to persist against all odds. 

    There are innumerable examples throughout history of the undying human spirit, and more examples emerge with each passing day. 

    We are living in the history books, so to speak, and our stories will be told for generations to come. Be on the right side of history. 

  • The Wrong Tree

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    “For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.” – Matthew 24:4

    For how little the Bible actually discusses the Antichrist, there certainly is much discourse about this figure in modern evangelical Christianity. What goes unacknowledged, however, is that the Bible often discusses multiple antichrists instead of a particular figure. 

    An antichrist is simply a person who embodies the opposite of Jesus and his teachings. Jesus taught love and care, empathy and compassion. So an antichrist must reasonably be a hateful, greedy, malignant narcissist, or something to that effect. 

    Like the Book of Revelation, the idea of the Antichrist is a distilled symbol of a much more pervasive issue throughout human history – that of the greedy. People like this rise to the top of society often, and it seems the world is never quite free from selfish men attempting to bend the arc of the universe to their will. 

    Distilling such a pervasive issue into a neatly-packaged symbol is a convenient and effective way to communicate a message. However, over the last two thousand years, that message has become unrecognizable. An antichrist is no longer any figure who acts contrary to the teachings of Jesus, but a particular figure who will usher in the end of days. This strain of thought has been present since the writing of the New Testament itself, but it is more or less the sole perspective now. 

    And while I do not subscribe to the idea of an end of days, I must say it is quite remarkable how similar the current leader of this country is to the figure illustrated in the Book of Revelation. 

    This is not because of some divine prophecy, but the simple fact that all selfish men, and especially selfish leaders, sing the same song. When the ego takes charge, there are only so many ways a person in power may act. 

    Let us pretend for a moment that this leader – and it is obvious who I speak of – is the modern evangelical notion of ‘the Antichrist.’ What then?

    The issue is that so many reject this Antichrist not because of his many, many heinous acts and utter disdain for humanity, but simply because he thinks of himself as higher than their deity of choice. This is a massive problem, one that reflects a commitment to obedience rather than one to any actual sense of morality. 

    As I have posited previously, a religion that prioritizes obedience over morality is not a framework for betterment. It is a framework for control. The result of this is painfully obvious: millions in this country are magnitudes more offended by a simple picture than they are over the death and destruction this figure gleefully leaves in his wake. 

    Let me repeat: this figure has blood on his hands. But for the group of people who believe themselves to be the epitome of morality, the one act that has shaken their faith in this figure is his choice to depict himself as a deity. It is not even his narcissism, but the simple fact that he depicted himself as their god. 

    Finding the proper words for the feelings of revulsion I have over this disingenuous virtue signalling is difficult. There are many thoughts I wish to put on paper, but these must suffice. 

    Do not allow one questionable act to outshine the utter depravity of people like those in power today. More importantly, do not allow those who criticize this singular act to pretend they are any more moral than others if they so happily turn a blind eye to the plain-sight death and destruction people like this wield.

  • Finding Our Niche

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    “Better to have wisdom than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.” – Ecclesiastes 9:18

    There is a concept in ecology known as the niche, a space in which a population can specialize and adapt to thrive in a specific part of an environment. In evolutionary biology is a concept known as competition, in which a population that wants to succeed must possess certain attributes that place it in the best position to persist. 

    For any person who lends credence to the opinions of others, these attributes are not ones that one should strive to associate with. In nature, the most successful species are competitive – they are selfish, greedy, paranoid, and act before they think. As products of evolution, these attributes are among the most base states of human nature. 

    So, if we are products of evolution, what separates humanity from the rest of the natural world? It cannot be language, culture, religion, or consciousness. Other animals have these things. I do not believe that the soul is unique to humans either. 

    Those who are eager to separate our species from its origins point to acts of selflessness. But it cannot be altruism or empathy that distinguishes us from our relatives. They demonstrate these attributes as well. 

    And this is the great paradox of evolution – that altruism is able to be rewarded. If a species must be competitive and selfish to prevail and persist, how can an altruistic species possibly survive? 

    I believe attributes like altruism and empathy are indicators that a population has begun to move past its wild crib into a more refined adulthood. And rather than losing its grip on its niche, the population grows into the niche in a way it could not before. 

    Selfishness, greed, and competition can only help a species so much. Once wholly dominant, a selfish and competitive population must turn inward to continue in the same mentality, and this becomes self-destructive very, very quickly. It is also obvious that a greedy species that has dominated its natural niche can do immense harm to its environment, thus destroying the very thing it adapted to. 

    Humanity has yet to truly grow into its spiritual niche, and it will take mass empathy before this occurs. As I have said before, I want to believe that everyone is capable of empathy. However, my interactions with people make acceptance of such a radical idea next to impossible. 

    But, once this does happen and regression is put to the wayside, humanity will be able to thrive in a way no other species has in the past. But this requires wisdom, not weapons.

  • Sleep On It

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    “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.” – Psalm 4:4

    This is among the most sound advice I have ever received from my father. I do not know if he got it from this verse or from life experience, but it has been instrumental in acting rationally in emotionally-charged situations. Unfortunately, not everyone sees this as a good thing. 

    First, I have some misgivings about the Bible’s definition of “sin,” but I would agree that acting in anger could constitute sin. I once wrote that sin is “treason to the soul,” and “projection of one’s own faults to the blameless soul of another.” Acting in anger and allowing it to control oneself would fall under this definition. 

    I have found myself in many an instance where the temptation to act irrationally, and out of anger, was palpable. Of course, there have been times I did snap and said something I regretted later. However, as I have gotten older and been presented with more of these stressful situations, it has become increasingly apparent that waiting to act and allowing anger to simmer down is nearly always the correct course of action. 

    The first time I encountered resistance to this method was in a management role two and a half years ago. An employee had overstepped his authority on multiple occasions, and I decided a disciplinary action was necessary. This was someone I had had a very close friendship with and even lived with up until this point, so I waited a few days to discuss the action to allow both of us time to think through the situation. 

    I should note that the disciplinary action should not have been a surprise – this employee knew very well that he had overstepped his bounds, and he knew the consequences. 

    When we did discuss it, his anger had not abated. If anything, it grew, and before I had a chance to explain the reason for my actions, he told me that nothing I could say or do would restore our friendship. We agreed that we could no longer live together, and I no longer felt safe in our apartment, so I moved all of my belongings to my car, fully at peace with the idea that I would be living in my car for the next several months. Were it not for my fiancée’s father offering me a place to stay, this would have been my reality.  

    He also told me he would rather have had me berate him in the moment than have a collected conversation later on, and knowing the self-benefit of refraining from acting in anger, I felt more pity and confusion than anything else in that moment. 

    Two and a half years later, I still do not regret the manner in which I handled that situation, or any of those that followed in the ensuing months. And this may be the most important lesson of all from this story – that even if acting in line with one’s moral compass leads to material or social ruin, this is far better than compromising one’s moral code and maintaining that status. 

    To trade conscience for gain is to lose humanity. 

  • The Truth Hurts

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    “And confound not truth with falsehood nor hide truth knowingly.” – Surah 2:43

    Oftentimes, one of the hardest things to do is tell the truth. Many find it easier and more convenient to lie, or “fib” as some say. But each and every lie entangles one in a growing web. 

    I was fortunate growing up to have a father who recognized the importance of honesty. In all of my twenty-two years, I cannot think of a single instance in which my father lied to me. The effect of this is that I, too, highly value the truth – even when it is uncomfortable. 

    In my capacity as an editor, I am often tasked with revealing the truth after it has been covered by bad actors. This, of course, ruffles some feathers, and my commitment to the truth has made me some bitter enemies. But bending reality to anyone’s whim is a dangerous idea, even for the smallest of lies. 

    One who controls truth also controls reality, which is why it is so paramount that the truth remain unfettered and free. Truth simply is reality, and any attempt to dishonestly control a narrative is an affront to all. 

    Truly it is impressive how quickly some cast off the truth and don a convenient falsehood. Human nature is naturally self-serving – this is just the way of evolution – but we must rise above these impulses if we are to build a society where opportunity and peace are truly accessible to all. 

    Those consumed with greed are drawn to obscuring the truth and portraying reality in their own twisted manner. Even when these people have everything, however, their greed is never sated. Even in the darkest of times, the constant pursuit of control drives the greedy mad. And the best way to rid oneself of this affliction is to be honest and transparent. Mistakes happen, and wrongs will be done, but a prompt and genuine acknowledgement of wrongdoing goes a long way, both for oneself and for others. 

    Even if it sets you back for now, the truth will always set you free eventually.

  • Talk is Cheap

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    “No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.” – Meditations 10.16

    I understand there is a certain irony to writing – and thus talking – about something like this, but bear with me. 

    Much ink has been spilled throughout the ages on what it means to be a good person, and even into the present age, many would equate “good” with “obedient” before “moral.” This is my primary issue with modern religion. By removing the burden of morality from humans and placing it on an intangible persona, people feel more free to act immorally. Whether or not this is the intent does not matter in this case – it is the result. 

    This may seem paradoxical at first. If an all-powerful and all-knowing being is responsible for dispensing commandments for what to do and what not to do, would not its followers be deathly afraid of crossing the line?

    Many are, but the reality is that God does not smite with holy fire and lightning like he allegedly did in Biblical times. No matter how fervent one’s belief in an intangible being, the being remains intangible and thus fundamentally disconnected from one’s life. Without a constant reminder of an overseer, it is easy to forget – or disregard – that being’s rules. 

    This also begs the question of what constitutes morality. Is killing another person immoral because it is immoral, or because God says it is immoral? I once heard an atheist ask a Christian, “If you need God to tell you not to murder, are you really a good person?”

    Now, I am no atheist, but this question struck a chord in me. It was after I had stopped going to church, if I remember correctly, but it gave me much to think about. I came to the conclusion that morality cannot come from a deity – it must be inherent to the human condition, and therefore arise from humanity, to have any real consequence. 

    Nothing can force all of humanity to act genuinely moral, but if morality arises from the human condition rather than from an unseen and unseeable outside force, it naturally is much more intrinsically tethered to our everyday lives. My interpretation of this, if it could be distilled into one statement, is that “one’s will ends where another’s begins.”

    Let us revisit the original quote from Meditations that inspired this post. Regardless of the origin of morality, there will always be those who adopt that holier-than-thou attitude many are familiar with. These are the people who tell others how to behave, but consciously act contrary to their words. This likely cannot be avoided, but I would think that it would be a much less prevalent issue in a society that understands morality comes from humanity. 

    For those who do believe morality comes from God, there are many who say that it is no business of man to judge man, but God’s alone. And yet, most of those people are eager to judge others based on often superficial aspects of their identity. There are some who genuinely do leave the judgement to God, and for those people I have a deep respect, but they are unfortunately few and far between. Those who are so quick to judge others are present at all levels of the church, and this was the first thing that drove me away from the congregation. 

    Even so, some judgement must exist in humanity to correct immorality – not aspects of a person’s identity, but actions they consciously take to cause harm to others. When morality is set by an intangible being that does not speak and does not act in any obvious way with our world, its words can be twisted to fit any agenda. If morality arises from humanity, this is much harder to do, and much easier to call out and fight against. 

  • The Song of the Ancestors

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    Note from the Author: I am in my third of three weeks on rotation for pharmacy school, which means I have little to no downtime. I don’t want to rush a post and publish something not up to my standard. Instead, I will be sharing some of the poetry I wrote in search of these deeper truths. This third one is called “The Song of the Ancestors.”

    ~~~

    Here begins the tale of all life.

    From the onset of carbonic life
    In this fragile plane of existence,
    Life longed and yearned to be self-aware.

    As the animals evolved through Time,
    Coalescing to their present forms,
    There emerged an ever-spanning force.

    Memory preserved through chemicals,
    Passed between countless generations,
    Permitted the Mind to know itself.

    The race of mankind, an infant then,
    Emerged from the neurons of a past
    So remote it may as well be gone.

    But as we know, the past is present,
    And the present is what is to come.
    Thus, we are all those who came before.

    We owe it to our genes, deep within,
    To honor, remember, and carry
    Their secluded memories with us.

    Your father and mother before you,
    And their two parents before them,
    Are twigs in the sprawling tree of life.

    Like droplets in the cascade of Time,
    Each span bleeds into the next below.
    Time wears ever on, erasing all.

    But those memories can be preserved,
    Their legacies kept alive and well.
    Their voices echo throughout all Time.

    Know yourself by knowing your forebears.

    Though you spent eternity unborn,
    You lived among all the stars above,
    Atoms waiting to fall into place.

    Society erupted ’fore long.
    The world’s empires rose and fell
    While your ancestors lived, learned, and died.

    They dwindled in number, eight, four, two,
    Until billions of years came to you.
    The universe made itself for you.

    Your body shall act as a temple,
    Your hands the priests to tend to its needs,
    Your first breaths the inaugural rites.

    But the universe’s fatal flaw,
    That tax on life by which all abides,
    Takes its awful toll on flesh and blood.

    For breath you are and breath shall you be.
    Your breath will cease eventually,
    And the seed will germinate anew.

    And when death, that sordid rite, does come,
    We may rejoice in conquering the
    Crippling sting of annihilation.

    The universe, to save creation,
    Imbued the body with the spirit
    Known as fith, the key to forever.

    The unbound fith shall roam eternal,
    Basking in creative glories
    The cosmos birthed ever long ago.

    But those who prostrate to wemme shall fall.

    The purpose of life is to live it.
    To take that away is to sever
    Your sacred ties to the universe.

    Beings that think want naught but to love,
    But there walk among us those who hate
    And strive to steal the essence of life.

    The universe knows all in the end
    That its own creations do believe.
    There is no hiding from forever.

    The agents of the ever-good caste,
    That power, that force that fuels all life,
    Will bring the thieving ones to their knees.

    Thowe, Mull, and Mirth, manifestations
    Of the will of the cosmos above,
    Will strike down the Thieves eternally.

    Weighed against the darkest of notions,
    The Thieving Ones will bow to their sins,
    Crumble beneath the sickness embraced.

    Those good souls who live their precious lives
    In awe and wonder and gratitude
    Will have their place in eternity.

    Where the body was so limited,
    The spirit will be free, space and time
    Bowing before their gracious sire.

    And so, when the Thieves are disposed of
    Forever after dark hearts speak true,
    The cosmos will be cured forever.

    The cruel hearts will be no longer.

  • The Song of the Soul

    By

    Note from the Author: I am in my second of three weeks on rotation for pharmacy school, which means I have little to no downtime. I don’t want to rush a post and publish something not up to my standard. Instead, I will be sharing some of the poetry I wrote in search of these deeper truths. This second one is called “The Song of the Soul.”

    ~~~

    Here begins the story of the fith.

    It is said that all in space and time
    Have at their core an essence unique,
    An energy of a different realm.

    It is the spark that lights the fire,
    The kernel within the hailstone,
    The beating heart within our bodies.

    This essence is a gift from the Mind,
    To all of its diverse creations.
    This most special notion is called ‘fith.’

    The fith may be better known as ‘soul,’
    But definitions do ensnare it,
    For it is far more fundamental.

    The fith is one’s blood and whole being,
    Personality, inclinations,
    Thoughts, desires, and all of their wants.

    The fith is within all living things,
    Each unique in itself, for the Mind
    Employs infinite diversity.

    The fith may be understood as two:
    The self, which one can easily control,
    And the lesser mind, which can control.

    In the self is personality,
    A unique pattern of desires
    Wherein rests one’s own identity.

    The mind is incomprehensible,
    And though it resides within the brain,
    It has agency of its own will.

    Alas, from where does the fith herald?

    The Mind is like a beautiful tree,
    Branching inside and out of itself
    Forever in every direction.

    The Mind inhabits all dimensions,
    Unfathomable to its offspring
    For all its profound complexity.

    The Mind can not be visualized
    By any one human brain in full,
    For all things ever reside within.

    These branches weave amongst each other,
    Coming together at farthest points,
    All while diverging within themselves.

    These branches follow family lines,
    Personality types, interests,
    Desires, wants, needs — a tapestry.

    Each fith, each soul, is but a thin slice
    Of one of these infinite branches.
    Each is connected to the other.

    This beautiful embroidery is
    You, your family, your friends, your pets,
    Your neighbors, even your enemies.

    All are knit from the same endless cloth,
    Everyone a unique point in space,
    In Time, and in our society.

    Just as one can peer into the depths
    Of the dark night sky, so can one peer
    Into the depths of their existence.

    The fith is an eternal being.

    Energy cannot be created,
    Nor can it be so wholly destroyed.
    The universe itself condemns this.

    Thus, even when the body passes,
    The fith will ever remain in full
    To live the eternity it earned.

    One’s actions and decisions follow
    From the crib all the way to the crypt.
    It is said that you reap what you sow.

    And although the fith may not enter
    Another material body,
    Nature encodes the soul’s attributes.

    From parent to child they migrate,
    Moving down the branches of the Mind
    With each next generation of life.

    In this way may the living preserve
    The breath of the dead all around them,
    Their forebears, neighbors in existence.

    We are the offspring of existence,
    The progeny of reality,
    So let us tend to our family.

    The Thieving One steals naught but from himself.
    The hateful detest their own brethren.
    The liars rather deceive themselves.

    The calling of the fith is to work
    To better the flawed world around
    For the sake of all life, everywhere.

    The fith has the most noble calling.

  • The Song of the Universe

    By

    Note from the Author: I am in my first of three weeks on rotation for pharmacy school, which means I have little to no downtime. I don’t want to rush a post and publish something not up to my standards. Instead, I will be sharing some of the poetry I wrote in search of these deeper truths. This first one is called “The Song of the Universe.”

    ~~~

    Here begins the story of all things.

    Before there was, there simply was not.
    But then at once, creation came forth,
    Vomited from the vast emptiness.

    Swiftly creation ballooned outward.
    Its inner parts coalesced in heat
    Unimaginably anarchic.

    Matter formed at smallest of scales,
    And from between the particle bonds
    Welled up a force, a conscious being.

    Infant in age but a sage in breadth,
    The lifeblood of the universe flowed.
    Rapidly it branched throughout the void.

    Sluggish notions collided, a sea
    Of such roiling uniformity
    Unfathomable but to itself.

    Within this force, aptly named ‘the Mind,’
    Everything was that ever could be,
    Would be, and even never would be.

    As Time drew on, the universe cooled,
    And seconds became millennia.
    Mammoth structures began to emerge.

    Rivers of stars spun around the eddies
    That were the galaxies, bright and rife
    With the atoms of the beginning.

    The Mind, ever-present, sentient,
    And sapient orchestrated all,
    Fabric on the loom of the cosmos.

    The force was pleased with its creation.

    But the Mind, imbued with fatal flaw,
    Racemic mix of opposite thoughts,
    Came to rest on answer elusive.

    On one hand buzzed desire to create,
    Other inclination, sinister,
    Yearned for naught but to delete it all.

    The Mind did separate these two thoughts,
    But its future it could not predict:
    Two personas spawned in enmity.

    That of creation was known as caste,
    That of deletion was known as wemme,
    Both filled with loathing from inception.

    They went separate ways, the battle raged,
    And the Mind feared for its proudest build
    Against the infection that did spread.

    That plague would strangle all that could breathe.
    Existence would die with a whimper.
    There was but one thing the Mind could do.

    In one fell swoop, the Mind cordoned off
    The lower space to save all the rest,
    But the Mind wept for its profound loss.

    But there was a loophole in the plot,
    A way to save the life underneath,
    One that required a new emotion.

    As the beings evolved, became complex,
    They began to think all on their own,
    And love filled the gaps between them all.

    Yes, it was love that would save them all.

    Only love profound could bridge the gap
    Between the physical and spirits.
    Humanity could live forever.

    However, as they grew and evolved,
    That insipid infection claimed them
    As its own, or tried to. Their minds stung.

    Humans, ever complex and unique,
    Fell victim to the doings of wemme.
    Within all their own minds, they suffered.

    But all the same, they kept pressing on,
    A species proud, mostly self-aware,
    That could never conquer every flaw.

    In vain they tried to conquer nature,
    In vain they tried to settle minds,
    But that human spirit was restless.

    Insatiable and unquenchable,
    The soul craves more, more, and ever more,
    Until bitter end approaches near.

    There is but one simple solution,
    So easy they may never believe,
    But attainable it is indeed.

    All one must do is look on upward.
    The sky of blackest, star-studded night
    Answers all, nothing to be desired.

    The sheer wonder of all creation,
    Infinitely diverse, full of awe,
    That is what the soul does truly crave.

    It is love that binds our creation.